Switching audio output device without pulseaudio

I frequently use a USB sound card with a pair of headphones, which had been playing nicely with Gnome and Pulseaudio. Gnome provides a GUI to switch between output devices which seems to work well, but requires Pulseaudio. Long story short, I'm in the middle of switching away from Gnome to a lighter WM setup and I have everything working but am not able to figure out how to switch between sound cards on the fly. I don't want to keep a bunch of Gnome dependencies just for this.
I tried a "slots" configuration (http://alsa.opensrc.org/MultipleCards#T … .22_method) which set my USB card to slot 0 and my built in Intel audio to slot 1. This got my USB card working when it's plugged in, but now I get no sound at all when it's unplugged. I've checked the volume settings with "alsamixer -c 1" and everything is unmuted and loud, but still nothing.
Shouldn't the system fall back on card 1 if card 0 is unplugged? How can I make this happen?
Thanks.

GogglesGuy wrote:I use asoundconf: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=23382
That still requires restarting running applications for the change to take effect, no?

Similar Messages

[Gnome 3.10] Automatically switch audio output device

Hi guys,
(first post! )
I just installed Arch linux + gnome. During the installation progress as described in the wiki, I skipped "unmuting channels" because I wasn't sure if it's necessary for use with gnome. And sound output works indeed out-of-the-box but there is one issue:
When I choose "Speakers - Built-in Audio" as output device (in system settings), it works fine. But whenever I connect my thinkpad to a docking station with external speakers, I have to manually switch to "Analog Output - Built-in Audio". How can I tell gnome to switch automatically when connected to external speakers?
Thanks for your help!

custo wrote:How can I mark the thread as solved?
Just edit your first post and change the title

How do I change Firefox's audio output device without relaunching the browser?

I frequently switch between different headsets and speakers using USB audio devices. Whenever I change from audio device to another, Firefox does not change it's audio output to match my current device. Other programs/games follow suit when I change my default audio device and I really dislike that I have to exit out of Firefox completely and reopen for my audio to come through the correct device. It's not a huge issue, but when I have multiple windows and multiple tabs open it can be annoying having to start my browsing session all over again. Any tips to deal with this issue?
Thanks!

philipp,
Thank you! The beta worked perfectly when I swapped between audio devices. I just had to make sure I disabled the devices that weren't in use before Firefox would switch to the new default.
Unfortunately, while I was typing this message my client crashed, but that's not uncommon for a beta.
Thanks again for your help!!

Pulseaudio not automatically switching between output devices

I am using a laptop and I have 3 different output devices on my machine. I have 2 regular output jacks, and a speaker. Whenever I plug-in a headset, pulseaudio happily keeps sending all audio to the speakers. I then have to open pavucontrol and manually switch my output device. This bug does not occur on OpenSUSE or Ubuntu.
Does anyone have any idea about how to fix this?
Mu pulseaudio configuration files are untouched:
/etc/pulse/client:conf http://pastie.org/private/t6sjcou1w90dcey73zpveg
/etc/pulse/daemon.conf http://pastie.org/private/mcmymrx85vuq8l8cmjyjow

The first troubleshooting step for any kind of network "issue" is a complete power cycle of the network. This gives everything a "fresh start" with new connections.
Power off the entire network.....all devices....in any order you want
Wait a minute or two
Start the modem/router first, and let it run a full minute
Start the AirPort Extreme next and let it run a full minute
Keep starting devices one at a time about a minute apart until the entire network is back up
Check the network again with the MBA and report on your results
Do not worry about the iPhone and iPad....they are pretty much hopeless as far as automatically switching from one access point to another....but the MBA should if it is working correctly.

Hi there, can anyone tell me how to make make Garageband ignore HDMI as an audio output-device on a 2013 Mac Mini? Now it keeps on prompting me: Do you want want to use the HDMI device (monitor without audio) for audio output? Thanks in advance, Grtz T.

Hi there,
Can anyone tell me how to make make Garageband ignore HDMI as an audio output-device on a 2013 Mac mini i7 using an Apogee jam as an input for bass and a Behringer USB DAC with RCA audio output? Now it keeps on prompting me: Do you want want to use the HDMI device (monitor without audio) for audio output? I'm also suffering massive audio lag issues with the Apogee jam after waking the mini from sleepmode, wich pretty much renders it useless.
Thanks in advance,
Grtz T.

I think the easiest way to do this is to have the EyeTV app running in one user account and sent via HDMI to the TV, and use a separate user account for Screen Sharing. Both logins can be active at the same time and with Lion you can connect via screen sharing to which ever login you need.
With regards to the Mac video resolution changing, when it is not the current input on your AV receiver. This is 'normal', if the Mac sees no signal it drops down the a lower level. What you need is to buy a HDMI Detective Plus which tricks the Mac in to always seeing a signal and hence it will not drop down the resolution. See http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=8005
The Mac mini does have an IR receiver. This can be used with the EyeTV app, iTunes, and similar. Yes I believe EyeTV would run for prolonged periods quite happily, it is has been around for a long time and had most of the rough edges polished off. However one issue you will have to deal with is that it does not automatically update its program guide data. For this you might have to write or modify an AppleScript. Elgato support or their user forums will be a lot of help.
You can set EyeTV to convert recordings to an iTunes (Apple TV) compatible format and then delete them from EyeTV.
The HDMI Detective should solve your handshaking problems.

Error '' No Audio Output Device is installed '' on my hp pavilion 9502au laptop ?

Hello ,
It happened yesterday while watching a movie in VLC player ... It closed the lid of my laptop and my laptop went into standby ....
Then I tried to open the laptop through pressing power button or mouse button. It didnt start. I had to remove the battery and my laptop started , but i noticed a red x on my sound icon. when i took my pointer there , it stated '' No Audio Output Device is installed ''..
Till now , I SWITCHED MY WINDOWS FROM X64 TO 32 BIT , DEVICE MANAGER SHOWS NO sound , video , controllers... manually installing a hardware display all devices of conexant but not mine.. all are video capture.... registry entries are ok , but no sound related registry .... windows services are ok.... drivers are not installing , as they cannot find the devices .. moreover BIOS is up-to-date.....
GUYS , ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED....
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Missing completely from device manager on an integrated component typically indicates a hardware issue. It's not something that could have a loose connection as it is soldered onto the motherboard.
If you want to be absolutely 100% certain that it's not a software issue, you could perform a full HP system recovery back to factory conditions. That would confirm without any doubt whether it is a hardware or software issue, but it is more than likely a hardware failure based on the behavior.
However, what is the hardware ID of the base system device?
This can be retrieved by opening the device in device manager and navigating to the details tab and changing the property to hardware IDs. This should help identify exactly what the base system device is.
↙-----------How do I give Kudos?| How do I mark a post as Solved? ----------------↓

Help Please!! no audio output device installed?

Hi. I have a satellite A215-S4757 last night I installed some windows updats went to bed because it was going to take awhile. When I got it had finished and was in sleep mode. When I turned it on I noticed the sound was on mute. Or I thought it was. When I attempted to turn the sound on I recieved the message "No audio output device installed". I updated BIOs 2.30 but that didnt work. If anyone could help me out I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks

Try this! Looks like you have Realtek audio. I was having the same problem until I installed the updated Realtek driver directly from Realtek site.
As many users have posted, I was having this problem with my Satellite L505-S5990. I tried most of the suggestions I could find here and on the 'net to no avail. I was surprised to see that this problem affected many laptop brands - even as far back as Windows XP!!
Last week I think I finally found the answer (or at least Realtek did). My laptop has Realtek HD audio, and the drivers that came with laptop seemed to be the culprit. I checked the Realtek site last week, and they have an updated driver, dated 3/30/2010, for Windows 7 as well as other versions of Windows. It is Version 2.46.
I downloaded and installed these drivers, switched back to going into sleep mode rather than hibernate and - so far - the computer wakes from sleep with sound intact!!!
Hopefully these drivers will work for others.

Is there no way to direct an AIR app's audio to different audio output devices?

I'm needing to make a couple of our AIR apps select certain audio devices to send their audio output to, and last year, somebody mentioned possibly using native extensions to do this. I had to start working on other things for a while, but I've come back to this (for the moment), and I've basically learned how to create native extensions.
But so far, they don't seem to provide me any special access to anything going on under the hood of an AIR app. When you stream live audio in through RTMP or RTMFP, the details of the audio are hidden from you. There doesn't appear to be any place where you can actually access the audio bytes that are being sent over the wire. You can specify a certain SoundTransform object for the NetStream to use, but that class is final and a vanilla Flash construct, so even if it may have a way to access the audio bytes, they're not acessible at all.
It really looks like, when a NetStream object starts streaming in live audio, there is no way under the sun to access the audio bytes and direct them to a certain audio output device, with or without extensions. Is this so? It would be unfortunate if Adobe didn't allow this, even through native extensions. Thanks.

Couple quick thoughts..
Limits are important. There's a large amount of work done to keep a clear separation between a users decision and a developers decision. For instance, you can't change a users default audio output because that clearly violates a users decision. That said, here's a whole mess of people debating the issue and actually eventually an undocumented COM API you can find that will actually let you do it in Vista/Win7 (but not 8), however don't expect that to be a 'good thing to do':
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/9ebd7ad6-a460-4a28-9de9-2af63fd4a13e/programatica lly-setting-the-default-playback-device-and-recording-device?forum=windowspro-audiodevelop ment
You might want to get a beverage before reading that.
Aside that, RTMP is secured, which is why you can't gain access to the bytes. The entire purpose of it is to assure media developers that their media can't easily be copied/stolen. Adobe doesn't document their method of securing streams but they do publish the RTMP specification. It's entirely possible for you to create your own RTMP server and encryption method while delivering a RTMP stream to custom client that you code yourself which can read the stream. Here's the spec:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/rtmp.html
So I'd say it would be unfortunate if Adobe did give you access to the bytes. You might as well just hand users a mp3 of whatever song is playing because they would steal media left and right.
That isn't to say you can't use a multitude of ways of getting the data going across the default output device. Plenty of apps (fraps/etc) capture video and mixed audio streams. But Adobe isn't going to give you the keys to the kingdom and let you decrypt their protected media protocol.

No audio output device is installed - Satellite C855D-S5950 - Windows 8 64-bit

Toshiba laptop
Model: Satellite C855D-S5950
P/N: PSCBQU-03G03E
OS: Windows 8 64bit
RAM: 4GB.
Hello,
I have my friend’s Toshiba Satellite C855D-S5950 with Windows 8 (64bit) that about a year old. Some months ago the sound stopped working. He asked me to take a look at it. I have researched this issue and found others have encountered his problem as well.
Currently, the sound icon has a red x, “No audio output device is installed.”
Things I have tried so far to try to fix this:
I went to the Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers. I have "Realtek High Definition Audio" listed with the little yellow caution icons on them. I have tried to disable, then enable it. I have tried to uninstall the sound driver from the Device Manager. I would restart the laptop, and let the driver reinstall itself, to no effect. I have tried downloading the latest drivers from the Toshiba website. I have tried un-installing the driver while in safe mode from the Device Manager. As well as from Programs and Features. There were no positive change to the audio though, still the same message. The Realtek driver won't finish installing and throws the error: "Install Realtek HD Audio Driver Failure!! [Error Code: 0x000000FF]"
I have gone to Control Panel > Sound, under both the Playback and Recording tabs, it says "No audio devices are installed."
My friend was previously unaware of how to restart or shut down his Windows 8 laptop (as was I until I started investigating this problem for him). I mention this because there are no useful System Restore points to go back to for him.
I have also tried Using the Toshiba Application Installer as well to re-install the driver after un-installing the Realtek Audio driver from Add/Remove Programs. I went to Desktop Assist >Support Recovery > Toshiba Application Installer.
Realtek Audio Driver 6.0.1.6743
It loads most of the way then I get:
"Install Realtek HD Audio Driver Failure!! [Error Code: 0x000000FF]"
I have also tried the following links for additional troubleshooting:
http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Audio-Sound-Knowledge-Base/Windows-8-Troubleshoot-no-sound-with-Windows...
http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Audio-Sound-Knowledge-Base/No-sound-from-speakers-or-headphones/ta-p/27...
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/no-sound-help#no-sound=windows-7&v1h=win8tab1&v2h=win7tab...
http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Audio-Sound/No-Sound-quot-No-Audio-Output-Device-is-installed-quot-Tosh...
It was also suggested in the above thread I remove the Microsoft UAA Driver, but could not find this driver on my friend’s system.
Plugging in headphones, toggling the speaker volume controls on the keyboard has had no effect.
My friend has also misplaced his install discs, so I am looking for any solution which does not require the install discs.
Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Toshiba laptop
Model: Satellite C855D-S5950
P/N: PSCBQU-03G03E
OS: Windows 8 64bit
RAM: 4GB.
Thanks in advance.
-Tre

Recovery media is created from the hard drive. You can make it using Toshiba Recovery Media Creator. You can also perform a full system reset to factory defaults using the information on the hard drive without using external recovery media. That sounds like the best course of action now. To do so, use Windows+C > Settings > Power > SHIFT + Restart > Troubleshoot > Reset your PC.
- Peter

How to chang audio-output-device(s) in Windwos 8

Hi,
currently I’m working on an application that starts by changing the audio-output-device and ends with re-setting the old one.
On Windows XP I do this by changing the Registry-entry “Sound-Mapper” and it works quite well.
I hopefully assume it works on all Windows Systems from XP to Windows 7.
The background is that our program is supposed to play certain multi-channel sounds over an external USB-multichannel-soundcard and it should switch to that device on start. To actually play the sounds we use the AxWindowsMediaPlayer-Class
to integrate the Windows-Media-Player in our application.
However, on Windows 8, it is possible to set multiple Audio-Outputs and the Windows-Media-player has a setting to choose from them (under Options). I was unable to use the Registry-trick to switch the output-device and I could not find
a way to programmatically tell the AxWindowsMediaPlayer to choose the USB-soundcard as an output.
Is there a Way to programmatically(c#) ether change the audio-output-device(s) in Windos8 or to tell
AxWindowsMediaPlayer to use a certain device?
Thank you.

Hi Kristin,
I think your reply pushed me in the right direction.
The waveOutOpen-function is part of the
winmm.dll-API and I think, that API is the solution to my Problem.
Unfortunately I am stuck at this point. I tried mciSendString and mciSendComand. Both are cappable of playing sound, but I am unable to change the output Device.
This is my c# code to open a WAV-File via mciSendCommand:
MCI_OPEN_PARMS open = new MCI_OPEN_PARMS();
open.wDeviceID = 0;//this is somehow ignored
open.lpstrDeviceType = Marshal.StringToHGlobalAnsi("waveaudio");
open.lpstrElementName = Marshal.StringToHGlobalAnsi(@"test.wav");
IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(MCI_OPEN_PARMS)));
Marshal.StructureToPtr(open, ptr, false);
mciSendCommand(Convert.ToUInt32(textBox2.Text),
MCI_OPEN,
MCI_WAIT | MCI_OPEN_TYPE | MCI_OPEN_ELEMENT,
ptr);
Afterwards I use mciSendCommand to start the playing of the sound, which works fine, but no matter what I enter in the “open.wDeviceID”-Line, I always get sound over
the default output.
I use waveOutGetDevCaps to get the number and kind of the output-Devices and this works fine.
Regards, Marc

Changing audio output device

Hi,
I'm building an application that uses LCCS for video calls.
We've encountered an issue that we couldn't find any solution for and we believe is crucial.
Since the current version doesn't support AEC, all our users uses headphones to use the service.
The problem is, that to the best of my knowledge, if you plug-in USB headset, there is no way to make flash switch to using them instead of the regular audio output. If that is true,this means that assuming a user has USB headphones, even if we will add a note in the application saying "use headset to reduce echo" - that won't help as the user has no way of using his headset with our application.
Am i missing something? please tell me I am.
Thanks,
Itzik.

this is actually a quiet significant issue. There is no way in Flash to select the audio output device.
Today people have regular speakers and a separate headset. They all use the speakers for music and the headset for voice. Skype i.e. has the option to choose audio output device and its really handy, because
you dont have to bother to set the default device to the headset everytime you want to use it.
If you set the default device to the headset all other apps will send their audio output to the headset - which is not what you want either.
So people really want to leave the default device set to the speakers and not to the headset.
Nokia did this for Java
JRT 2.1 / Nokia UI API updated to version 1.4:
AudioOutputControl extension for controlling which audio output device, for example the device loudspeaker or earpiece, is used to play back audio
This really is an issue.

No audio output device is installed message on dv9925nr upgraded to windows 7.

I have no sound on my hp dv9925nr. Red X on speaker icon in task bar and "no audio output device is installed" when I hover over icon.
This did not happen immediately upon updating OS to Windows 7 Home (64 bit), but occurred shortly thereafter. I have no sound device in Device Manager.
Sound worked intermittently for a while, but no longer works at all.
Any assistance would be appreciated.

I'm having the exact same problem. The problem arose randomly, and when I checked my computer's devices there was a device in "other" called 'High Definition Audio Bus' that had been installed (without my knowledge) right before my computer lost sound.
What had happened was my computer was running extremely slow all of a sudden and so I restarted it and when it restarted I had no sound. Because this device was installed on my computer immediately before the sound stopped working I assumed it was the cause of the problem and uninstalled it.
It didn't solve the problem, niether did installing the driver you posted a link to, it just posted an error message that read: "Could not find the device for this driver"
I'll try reinstalling the necessary drivers for my computer, which leads to my next and much more insignificant issue: How do I find the product name of my laptop? it's an HP Pavilion g series, and it lists the serial number and product number but from this list http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/ProductList.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodSeries... I have no idea which laptop is mine. How can I find out?

"No audio output device is installed" on Satellite C655D-5120 running Windows 7 64-bit

Ever since I installed Windows 7 Professional 64-bit on my C655D-5120 laptop, I keep getting the message "no audio output device is installed." I have tried all the suggestions I have been able to find on the internet to install any audio output device to correct this situation but without any success whatsoever. If I go to Control Panel and click on Device Manager, there is no entry for "Sound...." so there is nothing to delete there to start things over again. So, does anyone have some new suggestion that I should try?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

To answer your question, it's a rather long story. I bought the computer used and already out of warranty more than two years ago and sent it to the Philippines with my son to give to a friend there. Because it did not get forwarded, it just sat unplugged for a very long time, likely more than a year. When I suggested that my son plug it in, he informed me that the battery had failed, the keyboard was unreliable, and there might be problems with the hard drive. So when I visited the Philippines in March, I took along a newly purchased battery, a newly purchased keyboard, and a spare hard drive that I already had. In the process of swapping out the keyboard, something slipped and it broke loose the on/off power socket from the motherboard. So I just brought it back to California in April. When I could not repair it myself, I took it back to the man from whom I bought it. He discovered that there was something else seriously wrong with the motherboard and replaced it and the entire lower half of the case, which it turns out was not an exact replacement. The trade unanticipatedly converted my C655D-S5120 to a C655-S5082. When I attempted to boot the computer, it kept asking me for the HDD password, which I had never set or changed and therefore was unknown to me. What caused this to happen I do not know, unless it was because the internal battery completely discharged. Internet research convinced me that this locked HDD was now trash, and I replaced it with a spare WD HDD that had been previously wiped clean, loaded a new installation of Windows 7 64-bit onto it, and started using it again. All research I have done since then and the multiple attempts I have tried indicate that this C655 has no functioning hardware audio device installed and therefore trying to load an audio driver is futile. Not knowing the history of the C655-S5082 replacement definitely complicates things. I have resigned myself to using it without any audio capability. (It is not my only computer.) Because I am severely hearing impaired (I'll be 78 later this year), functional audio is not particularly necessary anyway. So I believe that this case can now be considered closed, even though not to my complete satisfaction.

Audio Problem. says computers muted/ no audio output device is installed. works on start up

I have a HP pavilion dv6500 notebook, windows vista 32-bit.
My computer was recently wiped and was given to me by a friend. he told me the computer needed a new sound card and that the sound never worked.
However, when i first started my computer I had an update and a sound driver was installed.
I put on a movie, the sound worked flawlessly, so I know the drivers, audio output device and soundcard are all installed correctly, but after a minute or so of watching the movie my sound cuts out, the speakers icon shows it is muted, and won't allow me to change the volume, when i scroll over it a message pops up that reads "no audio output device is installed".
sometimes when I shutdown my computer and restart it, my speaker Icon appears normal, and I can listen to music or watch a music video and the sound works again, but after 30 seconds to a minute or so, it does the same thing and wont work anymore.
I dont know what to do. I have tried to use the site to scan my computer for missing files or drivers but it just said that my computer isn't the model i specified (which it is) and that I have an expired warranty. which shouldn't matter if all i need is support.
I work with music and need to use programs like Protools or Logic Pro but I cant do that without sound so haven't installed those programs on my HP yest. PLEASE HELP.

I'm having the exact same problem. The problem arose randomly, and when I checked my computer's devices there was a device in "other" called 'High Definition Audio Bus' that had been installed (without my knowledge) right before my computer lost sound.
What had happened was my computer was running extremely slow all of a sudden and so I restarted it and when it restarted I had no sound. Because this device was installed on my computer immediately before the sound stopped working I assumed it was the cause of the problem and uninstalled it.
It didn't solve the problem, niether did installing the driver you posted a link to, it just posted an error message that read: "Could not find the device for this driver"
I'll try reinstalling the necessary drivers for my computer, which leads to my next and much more insignificant issue: How do I find the product name of my laptop? it's an HP Pavilion g series, and it lists the serial number and product number but from this list http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/ProductList.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodSeries... I have no idea which laptop is mine. How can I find out?

Help! No Audio Output device is installed

My speaker in bottom right for My sound say "No Audio Output Device Is Installed" and i have tried to go through many things to solve such as go into device manager and enable or update through there etc...to no avail.
I stumbled across a thing that worked for most people. Recovery Manager. but. I don't have it on my computer to try so i have no other options to turn to. Can someone please help on how to fix this issue

Dear Customer,
Welcome to the HP Consumer Support Forum!!
To isolate the issue please perform the steps below:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Check the Sound icon in the taskbar.
3. If the icon has an X in the lower corner, click the Sound icon in the taskbar or
4. Right-click the icon, and then click Troubleshoot sound problems.
5. The audio troubleshooter checks for sound problems. When the troubleshooter finishes, it displays the results.
6. If the computer has sound, the issue is resolved.
Install Original Realtek High Definition Audio Driver from the link below:
http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Pavilion-Slimline-s5000-Desktop-PC-series/3942804...
From the above link click on Driver-Original > Original Realtek High Definition Audio Driver > Download and install the same.
In case the issue still persists and if the audio was working fine earlier, you may perform system restore to previous working condition using the steps mentioned in the link below:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/restoresysv.html
Hope this helps, for any further queries reply to the post and feel free to join us again.
**Click the KUDOS star on left to say Thanks**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.
Thank You,
GR1
Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP

Switching audio output device without pulseaudio

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